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Experience Kauhale

When asked about their experience at Hawai'i Community College, many students comment on the welcoming atmosphere and the supportive instructors who helped them succeed on their academic journey.

Hawai‘i Community College strives to create this supportive 'ohana by embracing the concept of Kauhale. Kauhale traditionally means Hawaiian Village and is an 'ohana of administrators, faculty, staff, students, their families, and the Hawaiʻi Island community that contributes measurably to the success of our college's mission and outcomes. Kauhale maximizes the "community" in our mission through dialogue, planning, innovation, and assessment across traditional college divisions and units. Kauhale enables all members of the college ʻohana to recognize and celebrate our own individual skills, knowledge, and experiences as well as the skills, knowledge, and experiences of others. Kauhale unites all components of Hawaiʻi Community College into an "academic village without walls" for the overall success of our learners, the learners' communities and their families, in the spirit of E ʻImi Pono (seeking excellence).

The Kauhale Initiative is one example of how the college embraces Hawaiian culture and diversity, but there are many others.

Happy holidays to all! This is a time of year for reflecting on the many things in life there are to be grateful for, and one of those is the amazing community support Hawai‘i Community College receives from Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Hawaii (JCCIH).

Hawai‘i Community College Alumni & ‘Ohana is pleased to announce that nominations for the Alumni of the Year Award are now open. The award, established in 2017, recognizes Hawai‘i CC alumni and former students who have made major contributions to their professions, vocations, and/or communities.

Kick off the holiday season and celebrate the 30th year of the festive Christmas with the Chefs, Saturday, Dec.1. The annual gala is on the seaside grounds of Courtyard King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel from 5:30-8 p.m.

After graduating from high school on O’ahu in 2010, Noah Patterson Hanohano Dolim needed direction. He was an underachieving student in high school, Dolim says, and he didn’t know what to do next. That’s when he decided to move to Hilo and enroll at Hawai‘i Community College. With family on Hawai‘i Island, it seemed like a smart move, and it turns out he was right.

Poets Christy Passion, Ann Inoshita, Juliet Kono and Jean Yamasaki Toyama will read from their work that revisits the 1932 kidnapping and murder of Native Hawaiian prize fighter Joseph Kahahawai and the events surrounding it, commonly known as “The Massie Case.” The poetry reading will be followed by a Q&A.

This event is free and open to the public. All are welcome to attend. Light refreshments will be served.

“Coming to Hawai’i Community College was my rebirth, my reinvention of myself. Since then I’ve been on the path of school, and I haven’t stopped yet. I think if I’d gone straight to a four-year university, I don’t think I would have made it. The transition would have been too hard. I really needed the smaller school.”